1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for supplying objects such as leadless electric components and particularly to the art of improving the reliability with which the apparatus supplies the objects.
2. Related Art Statement
There is known an electric-component (xe2x80x9cECxe2x80x9d) supplying apparatus which supplies leadless ECs each of which has no leads or no lead wires and which are carried by an EC carrier tape. The EC carrier tape includes an EC accommodating tape having a plurality of pockets which are formed at a predetermined pitch and each of which accommodates an EC; and a cover tape which is adhered to the EC accommodating tape and covers respective openings of the pockets. The EC supplying apparatus includes a tape feeding device which feeds the EC carrier tape so that the ECs are fed one by one to an EC-supply portion of the apparatus from which each of the ECs is taken out by an EC holder.
Since the EC carrier tape holds the ECs in the pockets, the EC supplying apparatus can supply the ECs one by one, with high reliability. However, this apparatus suffers from various problems. For example, the apparatus needs to deal with a long EC accommodating tape having a number of EC accommodating pockets, to supply the ECs. In addition, the ECs must be accommodated in the pockets of the tape in advance.
Thus, there is a demand for an object supplying apparatus which can supply objects with high reliability, without using a carrier tape.
The present invention provides an object supplying apparatus which has one or more of the technical features that are described below in respective paragraphs given parenthesized sequential numbers (1) to (29). Any technical feature which includes another technical feature shall do so by referring, at the beginning, to the parenthesized sequential number given to the latter feature. Thus, two or more of the following technical features may be combined, if appropriate. Each technical feature may be accompanied by a supplemental explanation, as needed. However, the following technical features and the appropriate combinations thereof are just examples to which the present invention is by no means limited. In addition, in the case where one technical feature recites a plurality of items, it is not essentially required that all those items be simultaneously employed. That is, it is possible that only a portion (one, two, . . . , but not all) of those items be selected and employed.
(1) According to a first feature of the present invention, there is provided an object supplying apparatus, comprising a housing; a plurality of pulleys which are rotatable about respective substantially horizontal axis lines and at least one of which is provided in the housing; a conveyor belt which has a plurality of pockets provided in a surface thereof and arranged in a lengthwise direction thereof, and which is wound on the pulleys such that a portion of the belt extends in a substantially horizontal direction and the pockets provided in said portion of the belt open upward; a circulative lifter which is circulated on a substantially vertical plane in the housing, and which has at least one holder which holds at least one of a plurality of objects present in a lower portion of the housing, conveys the object upward, and releases the object at an object-release position in the housing; a guide device which is provided below the object-release position and which guides the object toward said portion of the conveyor belt; and a clearing device which clears, from said portion of the conveyor belt, the object which has not been accommodated in any of the pockets of said portion of the belt and is present on said portion of the belt. The holder may be provided by a bucket, a blade, or a permanent magnet. For example, in the case where a bucket is employed as the holder, the object held by the bucket hardly falls off the bucket as the circulative lifter is circulated, and accordingly the lifter can reliably convey the object. The object is guided by the guide device and is accommodated by the upward opening pocket of the conveyor belt. As the conveyor belt is moved, the object present in the pocket is conveyed to, e.g., an object-supply portion of the object supplying apparatus. One or more objects which are not accommodated in the pockets of the conveyor belt and are present on the belt are cleared from the belt by the clearing device. Some objects fall downward off the conveyor belt by being cleared by the clearing device, and other objects fall downward without being received on the belt when the objects are released from the holder of the circulative lifter. Those objects are conveyed upward by the holder of the circulative lifter, subsequently are released from the holder, and then are guided by the guide device toward the pockets of the conveyor belt. The clearing of objects by the clearing device, the conveying of objects by the circulative lifter, and the guiding of objects by the guide device are repeated, while each object is accommodated by one pocket at an appropriate convenience and is conveyed by the belt to the object-supply portion. The present object supplying apparatus can reliably supply, one by one, the objects each of which is accommodated in the pocket, without using a carrier tape. After one object is taken out from each pocket and the pocket is made empty, another object is accommodated by the pocket. Since in this way the conveyor belt can be used repeatedly, the present apparatus can supply the objects one by one with high reliability and at low cost. The present object supplying apparatus can be said as one which includes an object-carrier-tape producing device which produces an object carrier tape having a number of pockets formed in a lengthwise direction thereof and accommodating a number of objects, respectively; and a tape feeding device which intermittently feeds the object carrier tape through the object-supply portion. Thus, the present object supplying apparatus is equivalent to one which circulates the object carrier tape and repeatedly uses the same.
(2) According to a second feature of the present invention that includes the first feature (1), a first one of the plurality of pulleys is provided inside the housing and a second one of the pulleys is provided outside the housing, and said portion of the conveyor belt extends in the substantially horizontal direction between the first and second pulleys. According to the second feature (2), a pocket of a portion of the conveyor belt that is located in the vicinity of the second pulley opens upward, so that an object present in the upward opening pocket can be taken out by, e.g., a negative-pressure suction nozzle. In this case, it is preferred that a cover member be employed to cover a portion of the conveyor belt that is located between the housing and the suction nozzles so as to prevent one or more objects accommodated in one or more pockets of that portion of the belt, from jumping out of the pockets because of, e.g., vibration. However, it is possible to provide all of the plurality of pulleys and the entirety of the conveyor belt inside the housing. In the last case, the portion of the belt that extends in the substantially horizontal direction between the first and second pulleys, may be moved at a level below the top wall of the housing, with only a small space left between the portion of the belt and the top wall of the housing, and the top wall may have an aperture through which each object is taken out from each pocket of the belt, so that the top wall may function like the above-indicated cover member.
(3) According to a third feature of the present invention that includes the first or second feature (1) or (2), the circulative lifter comprises a rotatable lifter which is rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis line and which has a plurality of said holders in an outer peripheral portion thereof such that the holders are angularly spaced from each other about the horizontal axis line. The holders may be equiangularly spaced from each other about the horizontal axis line. The circulative lifter may otherwise be provided by a plurality of pulleys and a belt wound on the pulleys. However, the rotatable lifter rotatable about the horizontal axis line enjoys a simpler construction than the pulleys and the belt. The holders may be supported by an outer peripheral portion of one of opposite side surfaces of a disc-like member, or by an outer circumferential surface of a disc-like member. However, if the holders in accordance with the fourth feature (4) described below are employed, the objects can be easily conveyed upward and then released by utilizing the weights of the objects themselves.
(4) According to a fourth feature of the present invention that includes the third feature (3), the rotatable lifter comprises a rotatable drum including a circular portion and a cylindrical portion extending from an outer circumferential edge of the circular portion in a direction substantially perpendicular thereto, and the holders are supported by an inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion of the rotatable drum. One or more objects cleared from the conveyor belt by the clearing device are stored in the inner space of the rotatable drum, are conveyed upward by the holders as the drum is rotated, and are released at the object-release position above the guide device.
(5) According to a fifth feature of the present invention that includes the fourth feature (4), the plurality of holders comprises a plurality of blades which extend inward from the inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion of the rotatable drum. Each of the blades may be provided by a flat or plane member, or a bent or curved member. As the rotatable drum is rotated, each blade scoops one or more objects present in the drum, conveys the objects upward, and then releases the same. The angle of inclination of each blade relative to the inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion of the drum may be so determined that the each blade may release the objects at a desired position, or in a desired region, on the locus of revolution of the each blade about the axis line of rotation of the drum. Thus, each blade does not release the objects before it reaches the object-release position above the guide device, and it releases the objects after it reaches the object-release position.
(6) According to a sixth feature of the present invention that includes any one of the third to fifth features (3) to (5), the rotatable lifter is concentric with said one of the pulleys that is provided in the housing. According to the sixth feature (6), the rotatable lifter and the one pulley may be supported by a common axis member such that the two members are arranged in tandem in a direction parallel to the axis line about which the two members are rotatable. Thus, the present object supplying apparatus enjoys a compact construction, in particular, a small dimension in the direction parallel to the axis line of rotation of the two members. In addition, since the rotatable lifter and the one pulley can be provided adjacent to each other, it is easy to guide the objects conveyed by the rotatable lifter and released from the same, to the conveyor belt.
(7) According to a seventh feature of the present invention that includes any one of the first to sixth features (1) to (6), the clearing device comprises a clearing member which engages the object present on said portion of the conveyor belt and thereby clears the object from said portion of the belt. Otherwise, the clearing device may be one which blows air in a direction substantially parallel to the upper surface of the horizontal portion of the conveyor belt that extends in the horizontal direction, thereby blowing off one or more objects which are not accommodated in the pockets of the belt. In this case, however, the water vapor contained in the blown air may condense on each object and wet the same. This problem is not encountered by a mechanical clearing device including a clearing member. The clearing member may be a movable one in accordance with the eighth feature (8) described below, or a stationary one which is readable on the clearing member in accordance with the ninth feature (9). According to the seventh feature (7), the clearing member may be provided by an elastic member, or may be supported by an elastic member. In either case, even if an object may be jammed in a small space between the clearing member and the inner surface of one pocket of the belt, the clearing member and/or the object are prevented from being damaged.
(8) According to an eighth feature of the present invention that includes the seventh feature (7), the clearing device further comprises a clearing-related drive device which moves the clearing member to a clearing position thereof above said portion of the conveyor belt and to a retracted position thereof away from the clearing position. At the clearing position, the clearing member clears one or more objects from the conveyor belt and, at the retracted position, it allows one or more objects to be placed on the belt and accommodated in the pockets of the belt. According to the eighth feature (8), the clearing member may be (but may not be) positioned at the retracted position, when the objects conveyed by the circulative lifter are released, so that the clearing member does not interfere with one or more objects to be placed on the belt and accommodated in the pockets.
(9) According to a ninth feature of the present invention that includes the seventh feature (7), the guide device comprises a guide member having an inclined guide surface which is inclined such that a lower portion of the inclined guide surface is nearer to said portion of the conveyor belt than an upper portion of the inclined guide surface, and the guide member provides the clearing member. The inclined guide surface of the guide member that guides the objects to the conveyor belt may also function as a clearing surface which is located at a position higher than the belt and which clears one or more objects which are present on the belt and are not accommodated in the pockets of the belt. Alternatively, the guide member may have, in addition to the inclined guide surface, a clearing surface having the above-indicated function. According to the ninth feature (9), the guide member and the clearing member are provided by a single integral member. The clearing surface may be an inclined one which is inclined such that the surface extends in a direction from one of opposite side edges of the belt toward the other side edge, as it extends in the direction of movement of the portion of the belt that extends in the horizontal direction. According to the ninth feature (9), the object supplying apparatus enjoys a compact construction because the total number of the parts needed to construct the apparatus can be decreased.
(10) According to a tenth feature of the present invention that includes the ninth feature (9), the clearing device further comprises a clearing-related drive device which moves the guide member to a clearing position thereof above said portion of the conveyor belt and to a retracted position thereof away from the clearing position. According to the tenth feature (10) the guide member also functions as the clearing member. More specifically described, the guide member may function as the clearing member, when it is positioned at the clearing position, and may function as the guide member when it is positioned at the retracted position. The object supplying apparatus in accordance with the tenth feature (10) enjoys the same advantages as those of the apparatus in accordance with the eighth feature (8).
(11) According to an eleventh feature of the present invention that includes the eighth or tenth feature (8) or (10), the clearing-related drive device comprises a cam device including a cam which is attached to one of the rotatable lifter and the clearing or guide member and a cam follower which is attached to the other of the rotatable lifter and the clearing or guide member, and when the rotatable lifter is rotated, the cam and the cam follower engage each other and thereby moves the clearing or guide member to the clearing position thereof. It is preferred that the cam follower be provided by a rotatable member such as a ball or a roller. In this case, the cam follower engages the cam, with a small frictional force produced therebetween, and accordingly the durability of the cam and the cam follower is increased. As the rotatable lifter is rotated, the cam and the cam follower engage each other, so that the clearing member or the guide member is moved to the clearing position. With the cam and the cam follower, the rotatable lifter can be easily utilized to move the clearing member or the guide member to the clearing position.
(12) According to a twelfth feature of the present invention that includes the eleventh feature (11), the clearing-related drive device further comprises a biasing device which applies a biasing force to the clearing or guide member to move the clearing or guide member toward the retracted position thereof, and the cam device moves the clearing or guide member to the clearing position thereof against the biasing force of the biasing device. The biasing device may be provided by a spring or a rubber member each as a sort of elastic member. In this case, the biasing device can be produced at low cost.
(13) According to a thirteenth feature of the present invention that includes any one of the first to twelfth features (1) to (12), the housing comprises a case attaching device which can attach an object case in which a plurality of objects are stored, to the housing, such that the object case is detachable from the housing. When the objects present in the housing have been consumed out, the present object supplying apparatus may be replaced with another apparatus whose housing is filled with objects, so as to continue supplying the objects. However, this is cumbersome, and the supplying of objects is temporarily stopped. according to the thirteenth feature (13), the housing is supplied with the objects from the object case which is detachably attachable to the housing. In this case, the apparatus can continue supplying the objects, while the housing is supplied with new objects from a new object case which has replaced the empty object case.
(14) According to a fourteenth feature of the present invention that includes the thirteenth feature (13), the object supplying apparatus further comprises a constant-amount supplying device which is operable such that each time the supplying device is operated, the supplying device supplies a substantially constant amount of objects from the object case to the housing. The constant-amount supplying device can supply an appropriate amount of objects that are not too great or not too small, to the housing. If the amount of objects supplied to the housing is too great, the objects may apply too great a pressure to the circulative lifter. If the lifter is circulated in this state, the objects and/or lifter may be damaged. This problem is avoided by the present object supplying apparatus. If the amount of objects supplied to the housing is too small, some pockets of the conveyor belt may fail to accommodate objects, so that the supplying of objects may be interrupted. This problem is also avoided by the present apparatus.
(15) According to a fifteenth feature of the present invention that includes the thirteenth feature (13), the case attaching device is provided in a top portion of the housing, and the apparatus further comprises an object-amount control device which is provided below the case attaching device and which allows, each time the control device is operated, a substantially constant amount of objects to be supplied from the object case to the housing. The object supplying apparatus in accordance with the fifteenth feature (15) enjoys the same advantages as those of the apparatus in accordance with the fourteenth feature (14).
(16) According to a sixteenth feature of the present invention that includes the fifteenth feature (15), the object-amount control device comprises an upper shutter member which is provided in a communication passage connecting between an inner space of the object case and an inner space of the housing and which is movable to a shutting position thereof where the upper shutter member shuts the communication passage and to an opening position thereof where the upper shutter member opens the communication passage; a lower shutter member which is provided below the upper shutter member in the communication passage and which is movable to a shutting position thereof where the lower shutter member shuts the communication passage and to an opening position thereof where the lower shutter member opens the communication passage; and a shutter-member drive device which alternately moves each of the upper and lower shutter members to the shutting and opening positions thereof. When the upper shutter member is positioned at the opening position, the lower shutter member is positioned at the shutting position, so that some objects from the object case are kept in a space between the upper and lower shutter members. When, from this state, the upper shutter member is moved to the shutting position and the lower shutter member is moved to the opening position, the objects kept between the two shutter members fall into the housing. Since the upper shutter member being positioned at the shutting position shuts or closes the outlet of the object case, no other objects can move from the case to the housing. Thus, a substantially constant amount of objects that is defined by, e.g., the distance between the upper and lower shutter members are supplied to the housing. The upper and lower shutter members may be provided by two separate members which are driven by two exclusive drive devices, respectively. However, in the case where the upper and lower shutter members are provided by a single integral member which is driven by a single drive device, the present object supplying apparatus can enjoy a simple construction, can be produced at low cost, and can be easily controlled.
(17) According to a seventeenth feature of the present invention that includes the sixteenth feature (16), the object-amount control device comprises an escape member which is pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis line and which includes an upper end portion providing the upper shutter member and a lower end portion providing the lower shutter member, and the shutter-member drive device comprises an escape-member drive device which pivots the escape member about the horizontal axis line. As described above, the upper and lower shutter members may be provided by two separate members, respectively. However, the object supplying apparatus in accordance with the seventeenth feature (17) can be produced with a reduced number of parts. It is preferred that the escape member be provided in a recess which is formed in a side wall defining the communication passage and opens in the passage, so that the escape member defines a portion of the side wall.
(18) According to an eighteenth feature of the present invention that includes the sixteenth or seventeenth feature (16) or (17), the upper and lower shutter members are formed of an elastic material which is softer than the objects. The elastic material may be rubber or any analogous material, e.g., soft synthetic resin. The upper or lower shutter member may pinch an object with an opposite side wall defining the communication passage, when the shutter member is moved to the shutting position. However, according to the eighteenth feature (18), the shutter member is elastically deformed, so that the object is prevented from being damaged. In addition, when an object is pinched between the shutter member and the opposite side wall, only a very small space, or no space, is produced between the shutter member and the opposite side wall, so that no object can unexpectedly pass through the space.
(19) According to a nineteenth feature of the present invention that includes any one of the first to eighteenth features (1) to (18), the object supplying apparatus further comprises an object-amount-shortage detector which detects that an amount of the objects present in the housing is not greater than a predetermined amount. If the amount of objects present in the housing is too small, the circulative lifter may fail to convey objects upward, and accordingly the present object supplying apparatus may fail to supply objects. To avoid this problem, the apparatus in accordance with the nineteenth feature (19) includes the object-amount-shortage detector which detects that the amount of objects present in the housing is too small.
(20) According to a twentieth feature of the present invention that includes the nineteenth feature (19), the housing comprises a case attaching device which can attach an object case in which a plurality of objects are stored, to the housing, such that the object case is detachable from the housing, the apparatus further comprises an object-amount control device which is provided below the case attaching device and which allows, each time the control device is operated, a substantially constant amount of objects to be supplied from the object case to the housing, and the object-amount-shortage detector comprises an object-amount sensor which is provided at a reference position higher than a bottom surface of the housing and which produces a first signal when at least one object is present at the reference position and produces a second signal different from the first signal when no object is present at the reference position; and an object-amount-control-device control device which operates the object-amount-control device when the object-amount sensor continues producing the second signal for not less than a reference time. The object-amount sensor produces the first and second signals which cooperate with each other to be able to indicate that some amount of objects remains in the housing but the amount of objects remaining in the housing is not greater than a predetermined value, so that the object-amount-control device is operated to supply objects to the housing, before the amount of objects present in the housing becomes zero. Thus, the present apparatus can continue supplying objects, without needing to temporarily interrupt the supplying of objects, or without failing to supply one or more objects. In addition, since the object-amount-control device is operated when the object-amount sensor continues producing the second signal for not less than the reference time, the present apparatus is effectively prevented from operating the object-amount-control device when, in fact, the amount of objects present in the housing is not short. Accidentally, such a state may occur in which the amount of objects greatly decreases only in the vicinity of the object-amount sensor. However, this state does not last for more than the reference time. This case is not recognized as the shortage of the amount of objects. Thus, the present apparatus can reliably detect the shortage of the objects. In the case where the circulative lifter is provided by a rotatable lifter including a rotatable drum and the holders of the lifter are provided by blades which are provided inside the drum, it is preferred that the object-amount sensor be provided at the reference position higher than an upper end of one blade that is currently positioned at the lowest end of the locus of revolution of each blade. If the amount of objects remaining in the rotatable drum decreases to such an extent that the upper surface of the batch of objects is lower than the upper end of one blade currently positioned at the lowest end of the locus of revolution of each blade, one blade may scoop up all the remaining objects at once. Therefore, if the object-sensor is provided at a position lower than the upper end of one blade currently positioned at the lowest end of the locus of revolution of each blade, the object-amount sensor may be unable to detect any shortage of the objects before the amount of objects becomes zero. In many cases, however, the detection of the state in which the amount of objects is zero is too late.
(21) According to a twenty-first feature of the present invention that includes any one of the first to twentieth features (1) to (20), the pockets of the conveyor belt are formed at a predetermined pitch in the lengthwise direction of the belt, and the apparatus further comprises a belt drive device which rotates one of the pulleys at a predetermined angular pitch corresponding to the predetermined pitch at which the pockets are formed. The belt drive device and a lifter drive device for driving the circulative lifter may, or may not, share a common drive source. In the case where the belt drive device and the lifter drive device include respective independent drive sources, it is easy to cause the conveyor belt and the circulative lifter to perform their best motions.
(22) According to a twenty-second feature of the present invention that includes the twenty-first feature (21), the object supplying apparatus further comprises an object sensor which is provided at an object-detect position in a vicinity of said portion of the conveyor belt, and which produces a first signal when the object sensor detects an object present in the pocket being positioned at the object-detect position, and produces a second signal different from the first signal when the object sensor detects no object in the pocket being positioned at the object-detect position; and a belt-drive-device control device which stops the belt drive device when, after the object sensor has produced the first signal, the pocket accommodating the object detected by the object sensor has reached an object-supply portion of the apparatus from which the apparatus supplies the objects one by one, and which continues operating the belt drive device when, after the object sensor has produced the second signal, the pocket in which no object has been detected by the object sensor has reached the object-supply portion. The object-detect position may, or may not, belong to the object-supply portion. In the latter case, the object-detect position is located on an upstream side of the object-supply portion as seen in the direction of movement of the conveyor belt. In the former case, if no object is present in each pocket being positioned at the object-supply portion, the belt drive device is operated till a pocket accommodating an object reaches the object-supply portion. Thus, the present apparatus can prevent itself from failing to supply an object. In the latter case, the present apparatus supplies objects and concurrently detects whether each pocket accommodates an object and, when a pocket without an object, identified by the second signal, reaches the object-supply portion, the apparatus further operates the belt drive device. That is, till a pocket accommodating an object is positioned at the object-supply portion, the belt drive device is operated to move the conveyor belt by an amount corresponding to two or more pitches corresponding to two or more pockets. The belt-drive-device control device may be adapted to stop, when a pocket without an object reaches the object-supply portion, the belt drive device to stop the conveyor belt for a time shorter than a time for which a pocket with an object is stopped at the object-supply portion, and then resume the belt drive device to move the belt, or may be adapted to continuously operate the belt drive device to continuously move the belt, when a pocket without an object reaches the object-supply portion. In the latter case in which the object-detect position does not belong to the object-supply portion, the belt-drive-device control device can recognize a pocket without an object before the pocket reaches the object-supply portion and accordingly can easily control the belt drive device and accordingly the conveyor belt.
(23) According to a twenty-third feature of the present invention that includes any one of the first to twenty-second features (1) to (22), each of the objects is a leadless electric component having no lead. The leadless electric component has, for example, a generally rectangular-parallelopiped shape.
(24) According to a twenty-fourth feature of the present invention, there is provided an object supplying apparatus, comprising a housing which has, in a top portion thereof, a case attaching device which can attach an object case in which a plurality of objects are stored, to the top portion thereof, such that the object case is detachable from the housing; an object-amount control device which is provided below the case attaching device and which allows, each time the control device is operated, a substantially constant amount of objects to be supplied from the object case to the housing; a plurality of pulleys which are rotatable about respective substantially horizontal axis lines and at least one of which is provided in the housing; a conveyor belt which has a plurality of pockets provided in a surface thereof and arranged in a lengthwise direction thereof, and which is wound on the pulleys such that a portion of the belt extends in a substantially horizontal direction and the pockets provided in said portion of the belt open upward; a guide device which guides at least one of the objects toward said portion of the conveyor belt; and a clearing device which clears, from said portion of the conveyor belt, the object which has not been accommodated in any of the pockets of said portion of the belt and is present on said portion of the belt. The objects stored in the object case are guided by the guide device onto the conveyor belt, so as to be accommodated in the pockets of the belt. One or more objects which are present on the conveyor belt and are not accommodated in the pockets are cleared by the clearing device, are again placed on the belt so as to be accommodated in the pockets. It is preferred that the clearing device be one which clears one or more objects in a direction toward an upstream side thereof as seen in the direction of movement of the belt, because the chances that the objects cleared are accommodated in the pockets are increased, the objects cleared do not gather at a portion of the belt that is located in the vicinity of the object-supply portion, or do not interfere with the objects to be supplied, and the objects cleared do not gather at the vicinity of an outlet of the housing through which the belt is moved out, or do not interfere with the belt to be moved out. The object supplying apparatus in accordance with the twenty-fourth feature (24) may employ any one of the second, seventh to tenth, and sixteenth to twenty-third features (2), (7) to (10), and (16) to (23).
(25) According to a twenty-fifth feature of the present invention, there is provided an object supplying apparatus, comprising a housing; an object supplier which is provided above the housing, which stores a plurality of objects, and which supplies the objects to the housing; an object-amount control device which is provided between the housing and the object supplier and which allows, each time the control device is operated, a substantially constant amount of objects to be supplied from the object supplier to the housing; a plurality of pulleys which are rotatable about respective substantially horizontal axis lines and at least one of which is provided in the housing; a conveyor belt which has a plurality of pockets provided in a surface thereof and arranged in a lengthwise direction thereof, and which is wound on the pulleys such that a portion of the belt extends in a substantially horizontal direction and the pockets provided in said portion of the belt open upward; a guide device which guides at least one of the objects toward said portion of the conveyor belt; and a clearing device which clears, from said portion of the conveyor belt, the object which has not been accommodated in any of the pockets of said portion of the belt and is present on said portion of the belt. The object case employed in the object supplying apparatus in accordance with the twenty-fourth feature (24) is an example of the object supplier employed in the object supplying apparatus in accordance with the twenty-fifth feature (25). However, the object supplier is not limited to the object case. For example, the object supplier may comprise a hopper which is attached to the housing, has an opening in an upper end thereof, stores objects cast through the opening, and supplies the objects to the housing. It is preferred that the opening of the hopper be covered with a cover member which can be opened and closed. The object supplying apparatus in accordance with the twenty-fifth feature (25) may employ any one of the second, seventh to tenth, and sixteenth to twenty-third features (2), (7) to (10), and (16) to (23).
(26) According to a twenty-sixth feature of the present invention, there is provided an object supplying apparatus, comprising a housing; an object supplier which is provided above the housing, which stores a plurality of objects, and which supplies the objects to the housing; an object-amount control device which is provided between the housing and the object supplier and which allows, each time the control device is operated, a substantially constant amount of objects to be supplied from the object supplier to the housing; a plurality of pulleys which are rotatable about respective substantially horizontal axis lines and at least one of which is provided in the housing; a conveyor belt which is wound on the pulleys such that a portion of the belt extends in a substantially horizontal direction; a guide device which guides the objects toward said portion of the conveyor belt; and a clearing device which clears, from said portion of that conveyor belt, the object which has been inappropriately placed on said portion of the belt. The conveyor belt may not have any pockets for accommodating objects. The conveyor belt may one which has a continuous groove extending in a lengthwise direction thereof, according to the twenty-seventh feature (27), or a flat one. The object supplying apparatus in accordance with the twenty-sixth feature (26) may employ any one of the second, seventh to tenth, and sixteenth to twenty-third features (2), (7) to (10), and (16) to (23).
(27) According to a twenty-seventh feature of the present invention that includes the twenty-sixth feature (26), the conveyor belt has a groove extending in a lengthwise direction thereof in an outer surface thereof, and the guide device guides the objects toward the groove of the portion of the conveyor belt.
(28) According to a twenty-eighth feature of the present invention that includes the twenty-sixth feature (26), the guide device guides the objects toward an upper surface of the portion of the conveyor belt.
(29) According to a twenty-ninth feature of the present invention that includes any one of the twenty-sixth to twenty-eighth features (26) to (28), the clearing device comprises an air-blow device which blows air toward the inappropriately placed object, thereby clearing the object from the portion of the conveyor belt.